By Samindra Kunti in Lisbon
April 5 – Lise Klaveness has left the Portuguese capital empty-handed. After the Nordic bid for Euro 2025 fell short, the Norwegian FA president failed to win a seat on the UEFA executive committee, falling well short with just 18 votes.
At the elective congress, Klaveness wanted to make history by becoming the first woman in UEFA’s 68-year history to sit on the executive committee by defeating male candidates in an election, but she fell well short in a secret ballot. It was a shattering defeat as Jesper Moller (Denmark), Armand Duka (Albania), Luis Rubiales (Spain) and Andrii Pavelko (Ukraine) all won re-election. Peter Fousek, Levan Kobiashvili and France’s Philippe Diallo won the other three available seats.
Klaveness had not wanted to compete with Laura McAllister for the woman’s seat on the executive committee. Succeeding Florence Hardouin of France, McAllister was elected by acclamation. The Norwegian FA president has wanted to carve out her own position in the global game. She campaigned heavily at the recent FIFA Congress in Kigali, but those face-to-face meetings did not result in the votes she had hoped for. England and Germany were among the associations that pledged their vote, but few European presidents publicly supported her.
In the Rwandan capital, she spoke of a culture of fear in football politics. She accused Infantino of a lack of seriousness over reforms, of intervening in national FAs, of forcing through decisions without consultation, and finally of cozying up all too much to politicians. She refrained however from once more addressing worker rights in Qatar and FIFA’s human rights policies in the future.
It was politically expedient to do so, but by not winning a seat on Wednesday other FA presidents let it be understood that Klaveness’s openness and directness are not appreciated. Female leaders in football remain rare. Klaveness is just one of nine females FA presidents around the world. At last year’s FIFA Congress in Doha, Klaveness rocked the football establishment when she highlighted Qatar’s poor human rights record, highlighting the plight of migrant workers and the discrimination of the LGBT community in the Gulf state.
In other decisions, Hanz Joachim Watzke will complete the term of Rainer Koch on the executive committee. Sándor Csányi (Hungary), Bern Neuendorf (Germany), Fernando Gomes (Portugal), and Debbie Hewit (England), will represent UEFA on the FIFA Council. Ari Lahti of Finland withdrew from the race at the last minute, paving the way for Csanyi. The English FA president became the British FAs’ FIFA vice-president which comes with a $300,000-a-year reward but also a seat at football’s top table. She defeated incumbent and president of the Northern Irish FA David Martin by 39 votes to 16.
“When you have democratic elections, it is hard to say anything is a missed opportunity,” said Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin. “I never interfere in elections. Debbie Hewitt was elected despite the fact that the other candidate was a male. Lise is doing a good job and she has a bright future in our organisation.”
Vote for the UEFA seven executive committee seats:
Armand Duka (45)
Jesper Moller (42)
Peter Fousek (40)
Levan Kobiashvili (40)
Luis Rubiales (40)
Philippe Diallo (37)
Andrii Pavelko (31)
Hugo Quaderer (27)
Bjorn Vassallo (25)
Lise Klaveness (18)
Rod Petrie (15)
Woman’s seat executive committee:
Laura McAllister
FIFA Vice-President:
Sandor Csányi
FIFA Vice-President British Nations:
Debbie Hewitt (39)
David Martin (16)
European representative FIFA Council (4 years)
Fernando Gomes
European representative FIFA Council (2 years):
Bern Neuendorf
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714071015labto1714071015ofdlr1714071015owedi1714071015sni@i1714071015tnuk.1714071015ardni1714071015mas1714071015